Too Dangerous

What makes an American any different than any other citizen of any other country? Is it they are better than anyone else? Is it because they smell better or that they look better, better hygiene, better teeth, more or less rude, different language? No. Because these are all factors that are easily adjusted to any different country’s citizen; those are human traits. An American is different because they have something that most other citizens of other countries do not have: Rights. Guaranteed and certain unalienable rights, endowed by the Creator – “that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

FreedomSystem.org is dedicated to rights of all people, but most definitely to the rights of our Veterans; after all we are a Veteran Service Organization.

It has come to our attention that the rights of some of our brothers have started to be taken from them in the name of “incompetence.” While we do not know all of the circumstances behind all of these, we were able to receive a letter from an individual whose Second Amendment Rights are being trampled on after he put his life on the line, by none other than the one that is supposed to help us: the Veterans Administration. The letter states:

“Dear Mr. Rayburn:

In our letter of November 20, 2013 we told you that we were reviewing evidence about your ability to handle your own financial affairs. We finished the review and decided that you are not competent for VA purposes.

What We Decided

The evidence shows that your disability keeps you from ably managing your Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits. Therefore, we will find someone to manage them for you.

We based this decision on information from your doctor, which showed a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain.

You may apply to the VA for relief of firearms prohibitions imposed by the law by submitting your request to the address at the top of this letter on the enclosed VA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of Claim. VA will determine whether such relief is warranted.

We have enclosed a copy of your Rating Decision for your review. It provides a detailed explanation about our decision, the evidence considered, and the reasons for our decision.”

This is an egregious overstep of boundaries. We as soldiers may need help with counting and keeping our money for ourselves because we are fiscally irresponsible, but we know how to handle our weapons with no problems; furthermore, obviously we are being told that we are wrong in the status of our life that we don’t know how to handle emotions, and they are afraid of us. Why else would they take away our weapons? The Brady Law is about taking away the Second Amendment Rights due to violent behavior, if no violent behavior has been displayed; this has no bearing on the VA. It seems like a massive redirection to a lot of people, including many of us here at FreedomSystem.org. Furthermore, according to the Brady Bill, “Prohibits any Government entity from using the system to establish any system for the registration of firearms, except with respect to persons prohibited from receiving a firearm.” This would make it illegal for the VA to not allow the said person to own a handgun.

Personal feelings of many other Veterans are at stake with this one as well. There is the rally cry 22/23 Until None (depending on your statistics that you read there are 22-23 Veteran Suicides a day), but this violates the person’s civil rights. Agreed there are measures that should be taken to help a person to make the choice of not committing suicide, but taking their guns and telling them that they are incompetent is not the way to do this.

As you can see we are not the only one worried about this. Our rights are under attack. Another Veteran on that same thread states: “I stayed off the radar from the VA for that reason. Fuck ‘em. The civilians just think I am badass, mainly because most of them are more fucked and depraved than I. I just hide within and smile a lot and speak with care and great sarcasm. They come to love it and can’t see that deep dark spot.” This is a serious issue when we as Veterans cannot trust the VA, the therapists that are there to help us end up hurting us in the long run.

Veterans of the United States Military corps are being ostracized. This is not my opinion, this is fact. Watch your local news, watch any national news network, read about it on any of your favorite news outlets on the internet. These articles here you can see that it makes Veterans out to be monsters with PTSD:

All of these articles have one thing in common. They paint the Veteran as crazy. PTSD does not make a Veteran crazy. PTSD is a stress disorder; furthermore, it affects every person differently. This is Ridiculous. A person in the military carries the most deadly weapons that man has ever devised. They are trusted to make decisions on the spot that are literally life or death decisions; yet, once the people comes back from combat and are considered a Veteran they try to take those weapons away. What does this say? We can trust our military members to be able to make on the spot judgement calls, but when they are home they are not able to think through something to protect themselves? Again, ridiculous!

So what is the next step share the heck out of this story, let’s bring this issue to the light. Then call your congressman. If you don’t know who your congress person is then go here and look them up: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/. Third: share this story again with all of your friends on social media.

Until next time:

PEACE

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About The Author

My name is Kenneth Holmes (Kenny, please!). I have two degrees from Indiana University – an Associates in Criminal Justice and a Bachelors in General Studies (concentrations Political Science, English, and Electronic Media). I am medically retired from the United States Army after 12 years of serving our great and wonderful country: United States of America. I am a father, a husband, a son, a brother, and a productive member of society!

My full time job is working with veterans and making their lives more manageable. I own my own digital media company, KennyLeeHolmes.com, and I build websites and do other side computer related work – graphics and the whatnot!

I also have a Veteran Service Organization that I am the President and CEO of called FreedomSystem.org. We are a IRS recognized 501(c)(3). We work hard to help Veterans that need help in anyway that we can.

If you would like to know more about me you can email me at kenny@kennyleeholmes.com or kenny@freedomsystem.org